


A Glance Into the Life of a Non-Binary Reaper

by Gale (justawindydeer)



Category: Original Work
Genre: AU, Gen, Minor Character Death, Near Death Experiences, One Shot, Wings, adolescent death, crack fic treated seriously, i took creative liberties with the reapers, i'm high on dr. pepper rn, non-binary, reaper (supernatural) - Freeform, small amounts of swearing, vaugely supernatural inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 02:37:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5317331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justawindydeer/pseuds/Gale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>August isn't your typical person. For one, they work for Death as a reaper of souls. For another, they're Death's first non-binary apprentice.<br/>Yeah. Their life can get a bit... complicated sometimes.</p><p>~~~~~</p><p>Yay for friend fiction!<br/>What's that?<br/>You say friend fiction is weird and creepy?<br/>Well I say I've had like, 4 hours of sleep and 5 Dr. Peppers over the course of the morning so tough.<br/>But you know what's even weirder?<br/>The fact that you haven't started reading yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Glance Into the Life of a Non-Binary Reaper

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pidge (pidgeon_holt)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pidgeon_holt/gifts).



> I'm v sry August. Lucifer made me do it i swear

August glances down at their small notebook and sighs. Today was going to be difficult.

On the notebook's pages is a list of names. These are the people that it's owner has to reap for the day. Unfortunately for August the list contains the names of quite a few children. Apparently some manic crashed into a school bus during a drag race with his buddies. The bus driver obviously hadn't gotten word of what was happening and had just been continuing on her merry way when her vehicle was hit. The only good thing to come out of the situation was that the bastard who caused the crash was killed too.

August closed and put away the notebook and disappeared in a small flurry of black feathers. They arrived at the not-too-pleasant scene with a small grimace. The childrens' spirits were all still yet to wake, (save the one small boy staring at the recently arrived August) but both drivers were awake and angry. They were yelling profanities at each other, the bus driver mad at the wreck that used to be her bus, and the other mad because of the impending doom of being chased down by the cops.

 _"They don't realize that they're dead yet..."_ thought August.

This happened often enough with the newly dead. A lot of time the person would simply get up and continue on with their lives, forgetting the exact moments leading up to their death. It did make sense after all. Would you want to remember whatever tragic event caused you to die? Of course not. So the brain wipes the memory away and acts as though it never happened. But of course, it did happen. And it gets awfully frustrating to explain that, yes, you are, in fact **_dead_**.

Damn the brain's sense of self-preservation.

August cleared their throat and the two adults looked at them impatiently. The woman, her name was Kim, according to the notebook, was tapping her foot and had crossed her arms. The man, his name was Joseph, seemed frantic, worried.

"You do realize that your bus, Kim, and" they directed their attention to the man,"the police, Joseph, are the least of your worries?"

Joseph seemed to forget all about his quarrel with Kim and stalked over to the recent addition to their group.

"And just how the hell do you know my name?!"

"Simple. I'm a Reaper, and I've come to collect your souls." August reaches inside of their cloak and pulls out a small double bladed dagger. Joseph's eyes widen.

"What the fu-"

He's interrupted as August slices a line through the man's chest, dissolving him into a small pool of red embers, which quickly fade into the cement below.

August calmly looks up at Kim, who now has a queasy look on her face, and says,

"I don't know about you, but I was never one for swearing."

"You- you just _killed_ him!"

August slightly tilts their head, giving them a cat like appearance.

"Actually you'll find that he was already dead. I didn't feel up to dealing with a sicko like him, so I took the easy route."

Her face pales.

"You're not going to do that to me, are you?"

"Of course not. You aren't going to hell."

Some of the kids start to stir, and August quickly apologizes to Kim, but they have to tend to the children. August walks over to the first to wake up, a small girl, no more than six or seven. The girl stares at August, and briefly they wonder what's going on behind those bright eyes, but then shakes the thought off. If they spent all their time wondering, the job would never be finished. The girl is franticly looking around for something, and has curled her small frame into an even smaller ball.

"Melanie, isn't it?" The girl nods, before glancing around again.

"Are you looking for something? Could I help?"

Melanie mimes hugging and playing with something, a stuffed animal, perhaps. August gets up and uses their powers to do a quick search of the area, before locating a small toy llama, trapped between the bus's automatic doors. They walk over to where the stuffed animal and reach to grab it, but a part of the bus's ceiling collapses on top of August.

The little girl gasps and runs over to help, but August cries out,

"NO! Melanie! I need you to stay away from here. It's dangerous, okay?"

They bend the metal away and snatch up the llama, and quickly jumps back to avoid any more stray metal flaps. They walk over to where Melanie is waiting, and hands the toy to her.

"Listen Melanie, you were very brave just then. Do you think you could do something for me?"

Another nod.

"I'm going to send you and your friends from your school to Heaven. Do you think you could help explain this to your classmates?"

Melanie talks to August for the first time in their conversation, and replies with a simple, "yeah."

So with Melanie's help, August rounds up everyone and opens up a portal to Heaven for them. They all walk through, starting with Melanie, and ending with the woman from before, Kim. But before she walks through, she says,

"Hey I saw how well you handled that girl. You're doing a good job. I just wanted to say- thank you for helping. I have no idea what I would have done if someone less friendly had shown up."

August gives a small nod and closes the portal after Kim walks through.

The little boy who had been awake when August had first arrived had gone unnoticed the whole time, hiding behind a small shard of twisted metal, and finally decided to speak up.

"Are you an angel?" He asked, his voice laced with childlike wonder.

"Mommy says that I have an angel protecting me. My other Mommy doesn't believe her. But I do! Are you my angel?"

August crouches down to his level and gives him a once-over. Why hasn't this boy gone with the rest?

"I'm not sure I know your name, little boy. Would care to tell me it?" They kindly ask.

"My name is Cayden!" He giggles.

August frowns. There was no Cayden on their list, and the list is never wrong.

"Cayden, why didn't you go with your friends?"

"I didn't wanna go. It felt like popsicles by the portal." He says, revealing a very toothy smile.

 _'It was cold?'_ August thinks. _'It shouldn't have been cold. Unless...'_

"Cayden? Could you show me your wrist?"

He holds out his hand, and August places two fingers on his veins.

**ba-bum. ba-bum.**

A heartbeat! This boy is still alive!

"Where did you come from, can you show me?"

He takes them over to the back of the bus, where the doors have been crumpled apart. A small, limp arm is hanging out of the hole where the doors don't quite touch. August quickly rips the doors off, revealing an unconscious boy who could be Cayden's twin.

Except this boy _is_ Cayden.

Somehow his soul had been knocked out of his body. If August could just place it back into this now empty shell, then he would live!

August picks up his body and carries it away from the bus, and carefully lays it down on the ground, a ways away from the wreck.

"Cayden, I need you to come here. I'm going to do something, and it might be a little scary at first, but I promise you'll be fine."

August reaches inside of Cayden's chest and pulls out a bright, shining ball, which Cayden is promptly sucked into. They place it inside of the body, and, after a few seconds the boy gasps back to life. He glances around, but can no longer see August. So he addresses the air, and says,

"Thank you Angel!"

August smiles and leaves. They can hear sirens, and their work here is done.

~~~

Later, when the ambulances arrive, all they find is a small child, rambling on about how his Angel stopped the bad man.

How his Angel helped his friends.

How his Angel, brought him back.


End file.
